Late Bloomer
by MidnightStarsXx
Summary: Re-write of A Special Cinderella Story. Amy Rose was living the life of a maid in her own home surrounded by freaks she called her step-family. Cook, clean, obey or else the consequences would be painful. Broken, alone and fed up, Amy was just ready to leave this horrid lifestyle when a familiar blue hedgehog suddenly throws himself back her in her life. Now what will Amy do?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This is the NEW and REWRITTEN version of A Special Cinderella Story. To new readers, welcome! And you don't have to go and read ASCS unless you want to but I, honestly, wouldn't suggest it .-. **  
**To returning readers who are curious about this new ASCS, like I've said before, the plot has changed and some things have been taken out from the original. Hopefully you like this one! **

**Enjoy~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any SEGA characters mentioned in this story. **

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Like any other day in Amy Rose's clichéd life, she was stuck in her L.A. home (mansion) cleaning up after her (evil) step-mother and twin step-sisters. Amy Rose huffed as he got onto her hands and knees to scrub the new carpet stain and silently cursed her step-mother's existence for the hundredth time that day.

If you had told her she would be a maid in her own home six years ago, when she was twelve, she would have laughed in your face before running off to find her speedy blue crush. At seventeen, her pink hair had grown out though she constantly had it up in a pony-tail or a bun. "It gets in the way when I'm cleaning," she would tell her friend who would comment on it. She was noticeably taller but she still stayed thin. Her hips were narrow, her bust was small and her shoulders thin. Her friend, Maria Robotnik, still didn't believe that Amy's thin arms and scrawny shoulders could lift up her large and heavy Piko-Piko Hammer.

Speaking of Amy's beloved hammer, her step-mother had completely forbidden any use of it which didn't sit well with the pink hedgehog. She had thrown a fit and stomped her foot until she was silenced, not too kindly, for the first time. She didn't complain about it again afterwards and decided to keep her hammer hidden away from that wicked woman.

Because Amy's Piko-Piko was her only mode of protection, she secretly took martial arts classes paid for by her job at a small cafe and by stealing some bills from her step-mother's bank account. She excelled in it but only managed to get to a brown belt before the cost became too much. It didn't matter too much to Amy. She learned the skills she needed and that was enough for her.

Amy was simply waiting for the day she'll need said skills.

The pinkette thought back to her days in New York with Sonic and her friends. She smiled nostalgically at memories of battles against Eggman and chasing the blue hero for hours afterwards (because she had once again been the Damsel in Distress and she was saved by her Knight in Shining Armor). She missed Cream and Cheese's little tea parties and days where they simply spent the day in her kitchen baking sweets for the gang. She missed spending the day with sweet Cosmo who would teach Amy about a whole variety of flowers and their meanings. She missed _Shadow_ and his silent broodiness. Despite his attempts to distance himself from anyone he comes into contact with, he's failed when it came to Amy and the two share a "best friends" bond that Shadow likes to deny every chance he ever had.

But then her father married that _woman _and she had to leave everything behind which, in turn, left her feeling empty without her friends.

Amy's birth mother was the best mother she could ever have asked for. She was gentle and caring yet firm and stubborn. She was everything to Amy and her father.

Her parents had met at work. Amy's father was the head and owner of a large production that created music videos for celebrity artists and rising stars. Amy's mother was a dancer for one of the music videos. Mr. Rose had been directing and the moment he laid eyes on her, he knew he was never going to meet another woman like her again. He sent her flowers and asked her out on dates. He quite literally chased her around the set once trying to talk to her but the woman continued rejecting him daily.

Soon enough, she gave him and allowed him to take her on a date simply so he'd leave her alone. She was surprised that she enjoyed it and no more than two years later, they were married. Another year later, Mrs. Rose gave birth to their daughter, Amy Rose. She was spoiled rotten by her parents as she grew up and surrounded by love and support. Her mother taught her to dance, her father gave her the gift of finding beauty in the smallest things. For eight years, Amy was living life perfectly.

Then, Amy's mother died on her way to meet some old friends for dinner. A drunk driver hit her from the side and her car went barrel-rolling. The medics reported that she had died on impact. Amy was nine years old at the time.

From then on, Amy and her father only had each other for comfort as they dealt with the grief of loosing such a wonderful woman. Her father stopped producing for a while and Amy stopped seeing her friends and dancing for years afterwards. Both realized that the woman they loved so much wouldn't want to see them grieving for so long and finally coped and accepted that she was gone. Slowly, they began to smile more and they let themselves live again. Though, the last time Amy danced was when she twelve; when she wore a spectacular dress to a party in attempt to impress Sonic and it failed... again.

For the longest time, Amy and her father lived happily together in the big mansion...

Then her father met Catalina.

They had quite literally run into each other when she was rushing to work, as she claimed. She worked at a restaurant and she had been running late. She ran into Amy's father, spilling coffee his coffee all over his suit and staining her khaki pants in the process. He was surprised and mildly annoyed but was immediately captured by Catalina's beauty. She had apologized profusely and offered to clean him up at the restaurant she worked at.

Once again, Amy's father was chasing a girl but instead of rejecting him like her mother did, she happily accepted flowers and dates without hesitation. In fact, she was absolutely glowing with the attention. No more than a year later, they were married and Amy was handed a step-mother and new sisters in the process.

At first, Amy was happy to have sisters but wary about Catalina. The twin girls were okay, especially Tina but Tina's sister, Liana, wasn't as kind after the first few months. Then Tina joined in and then Catalina. Amy tried telling her father but he didn't believe her. He was still stuck in the Honeymoon Phase and thought that Catalina was the purest woman he'd ever met next to Amy's mother and that her daughters were little angels. Amy's relationship with her father became rocky.

She was all alone.

After that, Amy's father died, their last words to each other being a hateful argument about Catalina. Apparently, he accidentally cut a major artery in his upper thigh at work with an open box cutter. No one else was there and he passed out before he could reach a phone. He bled to death in his own studio.

Then, Amy was _really_ all alone with nothing but guilt and grief as her company.

Catalina grieved the loss of her husband but wasted no time tearing down the studio and relocating it to L.A. and then moving everything to a new mansion there. The pinkette hated it. She was forced to leave everything behind and move to a new area that she was unfamiliar was. Not to mention the weather was horrid! She was a New York girl, for pete's sake! She was used to below 53 degree fahrenheit weather and not 80 plus degree weather and cloudless, sunny days. It could get hot in New York but her first summer in Los Angeles had Amy taking cold showers every few hours! The change was so extreme, she was even sick for a while.

The minute she was better, she was assigned the title "maid" by her own step-family. Catalina had inherited the production studios and the _wealth_ that came with it. Tina and Liana became the biggest drama queens and were more than happy to make their step-sister their personal slave.

From then on, Amy's life was pure Hell. No "please" and certainly no "thank you"s while Amy played maid. Just a command and then they expected it to get done. Amy had no choice but to obey or else she'd suffer the consequences. It's happened before and Amy would rather not anger Catalina. But Lord knows how much Amy absolutely hated everyone and prayed for the day she could use her martial arts moves on all three of them.

She just had to be patient.

Amy finally finished getting the stain out of the carpet. She leaned back on her knees and wiped away the sweat on her forehead before gathering her cleaning supplies in her arms. She stood to her feet and grabbed the bucket of water with her free hand and walked into the kitchen to put them away. As she dumped the dirty water in the bucket into the sink, her mind was already on the next chore: cook dinner.

This was always a challenge for Amy considering her step-family was made up of a bunch of dieting freaks. No fattening cholesterol or sugars and no meat. Amy hasn't eaten a burger or a slice of cake in months. If it weren't for Maria bringing her sweets and junk food every time she visited, Amy would have become thinner than she already was. She did _not_ want to look like a skeleton.

"Amy!" a familiar voice boomed through the house. Amy jumped and gulped before rushing out into the living room. When she got there, she stood in front of Catalina and immediately clasped her hands in front of her and slightly bowed her head like the obedient little maid Catalina liked. The woman was a pale blonde hedgehog with pale skin and striking purple eyes. She stood tall and proud in all her curves with a frown on her face. She was currently dressed in her favorite silk robe and a pair of see-through heels. Her arms were crossed under her large bust and her hip was cocked. "Amy, I'm exhausted. I've had such a long, stressful day and I'd like to take a warm bath."

"Yes, ma'am." Amy said and quickly rushed up the stairs to draw the bath for the woman. Catalina no longer had to give Amy a direct order anymore. She simply had to tell Amy what she would like to have or do and the pink hedgehog would do whatever she could to fulfill her wish. Just like any other obedient little maid. Only difference with Amy is that she was simply too afraid of her step-mother to disobey another order. It's too painful.

"Oh, and darling!" Catalina called after Amy. "I'd like to have my favorite scent as well!"

Without even pausing, Amy replied, "Yes, ma'am!" over her shoulder and walked into Catalina's large bedroom. The woman practically lived like royalty! A large king sized bed with expensive silk and satin bed linen and blankets with a curtain surrounding the mattress. The walls were decorated with historic paintings that Amy was positive Catalina knew nothing about and simple bought them to show off her wealth. The walk in closet was no exception to Catalina's flaunted fortune. It was large and full of mirrors and clothes fit for a queen.

Amy decided to ignore the room around her and continued off to the master bedroom's bathroom. She had seen Catalina's bedroom more times than she'd like and that was only because she had to clean it every day. Catalina was _not_ a neat person.

Once Amy had the water temperature just the way Catalina liked it—hot—she plugged the tub and let it begin to fill up. She turned around to the cabinet and grabbed her step-mother's favorite bubble scent: lavender. She poured a good amount in and let the bubbles spread. Once the tub was full, Amy lit the candles around the tub and left Catalina's favorite magazines on a small table next to the tub. It was a perfect relaxing atmosphere for a stressed business woman.

Too bad Catalina was never really stressed... or a business woman for that matter.

Amy walked out of the bathroom to find Catalina sitting on her humongous bed with her laptop. She looked up and Amy immediately lowered her head. "You're bath is ready."

"Good," Catalina said, setting aside her laptop. "I was wondering when you were going to be done with that. I was waiting for quite a long time." She walked past Amy, her eyes never once leaving Amy until the bathroom door shut behind her.

Oh crap.

Amy was in trouble.

Heart racing, Amy decided not to stay any longer and rushed out of the room to get back into the kitchen. Her luck seemed to have run out for the day, though. As she walked out into the hallway, she ran into her dreaded step-sisters.

"Oh look, Amy's here!" Tina sneered in her nasally voice.

"So _that's _what I smelled earlier!" Liana belittled, crossing her arms. Amy felt chills because of how similar she looked to her mother. "The smell of _filth._" Amy decided she didn't want to deal with her step-sisters today, so she kept her head low and tried to walk around them to avoid something nasty. Tina and Liana immediately saw what she was trying to do and blocked her way. "Nuh-uh. Where do you think you're going?"

Looks like she won't be able to leave so soon. "I'm going to go cook dinner. It'd be nice if you could let me through so you don't starve." Amy said, faking a sweet smile.

The two blonde twins gave their younger step-sister (maid) a calculating look before they turned to look at each other with identical smirks on their faces. Amy's senses began screaming at her to get out of there quickly. Before Amy could come up with another excuse to leave, the twins began to circle her. "Alright then," Liana said evenly.

"But we just thought we'd let you know that we're having some guests over next week." Tina added.

"Yes. It's a party to celebrate the return of an acquaintance of ours." Liana mentioned. "They've been gone for an awful long time and my mother simply can't wait to see them again!"

Confusion was written all over Amy's face. "An acquaintance?" she asked. "Who would that be?" Catalina didn't have acquaintances. She considered who she knew to all be her "Friends" or "coworkers". Never an acquaintance.

The twin's smirks turned into grins and Amy's confusion only grew when the two of them looked at each other, blushes adorning their faces, and began giggling loudly. They stopped circling Amy and stood next to each other in front of Amy. "Oh, you'll see!" Tina sang.

"I'm sure you'll recognize them once they arrive!"

"They're very well known so I'm _positive_ you'll know them."

"Mother will give you a list of things to do to prepare for the party."

"Ta-ta!" They grinned simultaneously before disappearing down the hallway and into their separate bedrooms, leaving a baffled Amy behind them.

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**Review?**


	2. Chapter 2

After Amy's run in with her twin sisters, Amy had returned to her little home/room on the side of the mansion (it was originally a garage) and grabbed her cook book to find something to prepare for dinner. She was starting to run out of ideas. For dinner, she cooked stuffed vegetarian peppers and served it to her step-family. Amy stood near by the table as she watched her family eat, waiting for them to finish or for an order from one of the three. The twins chattered mindlessly about the latest fashion or the cutest boy in school or re-runs of their favorite TV show, _America's Next Top Model_.

"Oh, she had absolutely no chance!" Tina scoffed as she took another bite of food. "Did you see her height? She was the shortest of them all! There was no way she'd ever become a model anyways. I wasn't surprised when she was sent home. She totally had it coming."

"Oh yeah," Liana agreed excitedly. "and did you see the birthmark on her shoulder? _Totally_ ruined any potential she could have ever had. Ugh!"

It was conversations like these that Amy had to stand through every day; morning, noon and night. It was starting to give her a headache and was, honestly, grating on her sanity. The vanity of the twins was astonishing to the pinkette who, when she was a pre-teen, seemed to only worry about her looks. Oh, how simple life used to be when she shopped for hours everyday and loved to style her short locks and wore her bright red dress. Oh and that gorgeous ballroom gown she had worn once was the best experience of her life! She had felt beautiful and strong and like a real princess and-

Amy was abruptly snapped out of her trailing thoughts by the loud sound of a fork clattering against a plate. Amy's jade eyes shot over to her step-mother who was currently spitting something into a napkin. When she stood up from her chair without a word Amy's body immediately tensed. What did she do this time?

Catalina stood in front of Amy, her facial expression unreadable as she held out a napkin to Amy. "Mind telling me what this is?" Catalina hissed.

Amy gulped as she took the napkin from Catalina's hands and opened the folded cloth; it contained mashed up carrots. Amy took a second to figure out what was wrong with it while also holding back the urge to gag at the chewed, saliva covered food. When Amy did figure what was wrong with it, her heart began to race.

The carrot was undercooked.

Catalina _hated _undercooked food.

"I-I'm sorry, ma'am. I can cook it some more for yo-" Amy was cut off harshly by Catalina knocking the napkin out of her hands. Amy bit back a yelp and bowed her head, shoulder hunched and tense.

"Amy, you _know_ how much I don't like uncooked food!" Catalina growled. "This is the second time this month! Unacceptable!"

"I-I'm sorry! It won't happen again, ma'am!" Amy gasped.

"That is what you said before, you lying wench." Catalina wasted no time grabbing her plate and shoving it in Amy's hands. She then pushed Amy backwards towards the kitchen, glaring at her unflinchingly as the young hedgehog fell onto the ground, food spilling all over her clothing. "Look at you! Disgusting!"

Catalina walked back to the table and grabbed her glass of wine. Amy looked up from underneath her bangs, face flushed in humiliation as her twin step-sisters began giggling at her from behind their hands. Amy looked up to her step-mother as the woman drank the rest of her wine in one gulp before throw the glass at Amy. The pinkette yelped and flinched as the glass shattered on the wall next to her, small glass shards showering over her.

Catalina snapped her fingers and said, "Amy, clean up this mess. I don't want another incident like his happening again or else you'll be punished without warning, understood?" The woman's eyes flashed and Amy's breath hitched, eyes widening. Without waiting for an answer, Catalina stalked out of the room mumbling profanities and insults under her breath.

Liana and Tina soon stood up from their chair and smirked at their pink step-sister still sitting in a mess of food and glass. "I swear," Liana sneered. "what's the point of having a maid if she can't even do a simple job like cooking?"

_I'm your step-sister,_ Amy thought bitterly.

After that, Amy was left alone on the floor of the dining room. She sat there for a few minutes in silence, holding back her tears of humiliation before she slowly began to stand up. Hissing when her hand was cut on a particularly sharp shard of broken glass that she hadn't noticed until the last second, she used all her will power to keep her mouth from shouting a string of curses. She shot up to her feet, her temper rising as she went into the kitchen to grab a garbage can and a broom and pan so that she could clean up the mess of her step-family _like she always does_.

God, she hated this.

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"_Maria-a!_" Amy whined into her phone. "I'm hungry and Catalina locked me out of the mansion!"

Laughter filtered through the phone as Amy put her friend on speaker and began to step out of her maids dress. "_Oh, poor Amy!_" Maria replied. "_I don't think I can do anything right now though. Especially considering that it's almost midnight and we're supposed to be asleep right now._"

As Amy threw on a tanktop over her head she grinned. "My guess is that you've on your computer all day watching episodes of _Supernatural_ and you really aren't planning on going to sleep until 2 AM and you're too comfortable in bed to get out and get your poor friend some _Taco Bell_."

There was a pause before Maria replied with a long and suspicious sounding, "_No-o!_"

The two girls laughed as Amy put on a sweatshirt and pulled on a pair of sweats. Grabbing her phone and slipping her feet in a pair of beat up Converse, Amy took Maria off of the speaker. "You've already watched the whole series. Re-watching it will just give you more fangirl feels and we both know what happened when you watched the latest episode."

"_I'm still waiting for the next episode and my heart hurts!_" Maria sobbed, causing Amy to laugh. "_Don't laugh at my pain, Amy!_"

Amy laughed again and grabbed her keys as she made her way out of her little home. "Give Sam and Dean and your poor heart a little break and meet me at Taco Bell. I'm really hungry and I want some company."

Maria groaned. "Oh, fine! Sam and Dean can stomp on my heart later because I'm a good friend and Catalina is a female dog."

"Thank you so much, Maria." Amy sang, truthfully thankful for Maria's loyal friendship. The other girl had been Amy's friend since she moved to L.A. They had met in P.E in middle school during the softball unit. Maria was horrible at the sport and had been constantly making strikes and throwing the pitch too high or too low or not anywhere near the current batter. Amy, thanks to her years of using her beloved Piko-Piko Hammer, was almost a natural at softball and as constantly being picked to be on one team or another.

Once, Maria had been chosen last to be on Amy's team and their peers weren't happy when Maria had to step up to the plate. So, after Maria's first strike out, Amy approached her and showed her a few pointers on how to swing her bat and to keep her eye on the ball. Amy had still been new to the school and softball had been the only attention she had ever gotten throughout middle school. Maria was another girl who, despite her beauty, was excluded from groups in school because of her obsession with fictional characters from books, tv shows, movies, comics and japanese anime.

When Maria stepped up to the plate warily, Amy gave her a thumbs up from outfield. Maria hit, not very far, but hit none the less. She was so excited and happy and the rest of their class was shocked as she ran towards first base with a wide, pretty grin on her face.

From then on, Maria had stuck to Amy almost like glue and Amy welcomed a friend with open arms, even after being told that the girl was the cousin of Eggman.

Currently in their junior year in high school, Amy Rose and Maria Robotnik were the best of friends and almost inseparable.

Amy had no car because Catalina didn't want her to have a car or even a bike or any mode of transportation, really. So she walked everywhere. Because of that, Amy always picked Taco Bell as a meeting place for she and her best friend; it was only a few blocks from their mansion. Sometimes she took the bus but the fare always ate her money like a soda machine. Better to get some exercise than empty her pockets.

When the pink hedgehog walked through the entrance of the fast food restaurant, she was met with blonde tackling her into a hug. Stumbling a bit in surprise, Amy laughed and hugged back Maria. "Warn me next time you decide to glomp me."

Releasing her friend, Maria grinned widely and gestured over to the cashiers. "No promises. Now, come on, let's go get some food."

Amy's friend is exceptionally pretty, in her opinion. She was a slender blonde hedgehog with wide blue eyes, smooth pale skin and a dazzling smile. It was a wonder she decided to be Amy's friend when it was obvious she could be a part of the popular group. Maria was this ray of sunshine that was hard not to love and Amy was just this... ordinary pink flower no one really gave a second look.

Shaking her head, Amy ordered her food after Maria eagerly ordered her burritos. Once the two teenagers had their food, they sat down in Maria's car (an old beat-up 1960s Volkswagen that her grandfather had given her as a gift) and happily munched on their food.

"So," Maria said, covering her mouth with one hand. She always had a bad habit of talking with her mouth full. "What did that witch do today?"

Amy shrugged. "I think she was practicing her throwing aim with me as her target and a glass wine cup as her throwing ball."

"Judging by the fact that you're still in one piece, she has bad aim?"

"She was close." Amy sighed. She looked down at her half eaten taco and suddenly didn't feel as hungry anymore. Sighing again, she wrapped up her taco and place it back in the plastic bag it came in, ignoring Maria's worried stare.

Fifteen minutes later, Maria drove Amy back to her little garage-home. They parked right outside the driveway. Amy had been silent and Maria couldn't help but shift in her seat the whole time, wondering what she should do. The blonde hedgehog would happily take in Amy, since she lives in a one bedroom apartment that her grandfather had rented for her to live until she went off to college. Amy wouldn't have to stay with Catalina and her daughters anymore. Amy wouldn't have to go through the abuse anymore. But would her pink friend agree? Amy's always been very loyal, especially to her father and his dying wish was that she could get along with and live happily with Catalina and her twin daughters.

Frowning to herself, Maria opened her mouth to voice her thoughts when Amy beat her to the punch.

"I'm going to runaway," she said, looking out the car window and to the dimly lit mansion. "I can't do this anymore, Maria. I have to get away. I can't stay. I'm afraid Catalina won't go as easy on me anymore."

Maria's eyes widened. "What do you mean? You can't just run away! What about school and your father-"

"You don't get it!" Amy suddenly exclaimed, her hands shaking. She looked at Maria with wide fearful eyes. "I love my father and I miss him and I want to honor his wish but you didn't see the look in Catalina's eyes. When she threw that glass cup at me... the look in her eyes... Everything is going to get worse for me now."

This was not something Maria expected when she agreed to meet her friend for Taco Bell. She thought the two would eat, make fun of Catalina and help Amy vent. Maria didn't think Amy would think about running away. "Where will you go?"

Amy was silent as she turned to look out to the mansion again. "I don't know."

"You can stay with me!" Maria said, placing her hand on Amy's.

The pinkette shook her head. "That'd be the first place the twins would look for me." Amy looked at her heartbroken friend with a remorseful expression. "I'm sorry. I just have to get far away from here. I might go looking for my old friends, you know, Tails and Cream."

Tears gathered in Maria's eyes and her bottom lip began to quiver. "I'm so sorry, Amy. I wish I could do more."

_Me too. _"I'll be here for a few more days. Then I'm packing my things and I'm leaving."

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**I forgot a lot of things about Maria so this is my interpretation of her if she had not been ill and she grew up on Earth. **

**Review, please! Also, this is just a hobby of mine, guys. Updates will be slow, I'm sorry :c **

**Hope you enjoy this new version of A Special Cinderella Story!**


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